Spotlight on Students: Primate Conservation

The following is a guest post featuring the work of a student enrolled in SA 202: Introduction to Anthropology.  This exceptional work highlights the importance of primate conservation.  I hope you find this piece informative and are inspired to make a positive change in the world that will help this and other endangered primates.

 

Parent golden lion tamarin carrying its baby (Source: Shutterstock)

 

By: Kaitlyn Wilbers

 

Primates play a critical role in our ecosystem and our environment. While we may not all see or know it, they are helping humans out tremendously. Due to humans and natural disasters, many species of primates are going extinct. If humans do not find a way to help stop the extinction of these primates, it will significantly affect human lives. Humans use primates way more than many realize, and while not all primates may seem significant, they all play a specific role in our ecosystem, such as the golden lion tamarin.

 

The golden lion tamarin is one of the smallest primates; it is about the size of a squirrel. They have small hands and feet, long canine teeth, and short incisors (“Golden Lion Tamarin,” Smithsonian’s National Zoo 1). They have long, bright orange fur, a long tail, and a mane that frames their face much like a lion's. The golden lion tamarin is native to the Atlantic coastal regions of southeastern Brazil (“Golden Lion Tamarin,” Zoo Atlanta 5). Their habitats are typically in humid rainforests in trees. They can live up to 100 feet off the ground. The golden lion tamarins use vines to move from tree to tree. These vines are also an excellent food source for the primate because they attract many insects and amphibians. The golden lion tamarin is an omnivore. They consume fruits, insects, invertebrates, vertebrates, and some eggs. Due to their ability to go up high in trees, they can easily collect fruit from the tree and eggs from

nests (“Golden Lion Tamarins,” Smithsonian’s National Zoo 2 ).

 

The human factors that led to the endangerment of the golden lion tamarin are the pet trade and habitat loss. Habitat loss plays a vital role in the endangerment of the golden lion tamarin. This species of primate is losing its habitat due to agriculture. Their habitats are being destroyed to produce and plant sugar cane and coffee and to clear the land for grazing cattle. Logging and construction projects, such as businesses and homes, are additional contributing factors to habitat loss (“Golden Lion Tamarins,” Smithsonian’s National Zoo 1). These primates are also taken from their habitats and sold to people as pets (“Golden Lion Tamarins,” Smithsonian’s National Zoo 1).  We can help prevent the extinction of the golden lion tamarin through. We are also helping the population of this primate species by having a breeding program in place for these primates to help regrow the population (“Golden Lion Tamarin,” Smithsonian National Zoo 2). Once the offspring are born and ready to be weaned, they will be released into the wild to help regenerate the golden lion tamarin population.

 

Protecting the golden lion tamarin from extinction is essential because they play a vital role in regenerating new trees, bushes, and vegetation for the rainforest for many other species of animals (“Conservation of the golden-headed lion tamarin in a changing climate” 2). They help by dispersing seeds they consume from eating various types of food, and by defecating throughout the forest, they replant the seeds that produce food for other species to eat. This also makes habitats for many different insects and species in the rainforest. It is essential to save not only the golden lion tamarin from extinction but all primates from extinction because they help our rainforests. Primates help regenerate our rainforests because, due to their size and how far they can travel, they can disperse numerous amounts of seeds throughout different parts of the rainforest to help regenerate and grow trees, bushes, or other types of vegetation throughout the forest for not only them but other species as well. If we did not have primates to disperse these seeds, it would significantly affect the human population and other species populations in those given ecosystems (Estrada et al. 12). Primates have also been used for

scientific research to help find cures or further understand many medical conditions (e.g., respiratory diseases, mental health disorders, communication disorders, brain function, and more) (Estrada et al. 12).

 

Without the help of primates, humans would not be where they are today. While we may not use all primate species in scientific or medical research to help find better understandings of diseases in humans, they all play an essential role many people are not aware of. While we do not use this type of primate species in scientific or medical research, it plays a vital role in our ecosystem, much like other species of primates. To help regenerate vegetation and maintain other species. This is why we, as humans, must help stop the endangerment and extinction of primates.

 

Works Cited

 

Conservation of the golden-headed lion tamarin in a changing climate. (n.d.).

https://stories.ecmwf.int/conservation-of-the-golden-headed-lion-tamarin-in-a-changi

ng-cli mate/index.html. Accessed 4 Oct. 2023.

 

Estrada, A., Garber, P. A., Rylands, A. B., Roos, C., Fernandez-Duque, E., Di Fiore, A.,

Nekaris, K. A.-I., Nijman, V., Heymann, E. W., Lambert, J. E., Rovero, F., Barelli, C.,

Setchell, J. M., Gillespie, T. R., Mittermeier, R. A., Arregoitia, L. V., de Guinea, M.,

Gouveia, S., Dobrovolski, R., … Li, B. (2017, January 18). Impending extinction crisis

of the world’s primates: Why primates matter. Science advances.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5242557/#:~:text=They%20are%20ou

r%2 0closest%20living,driving%20primate%20species%20to%20extinction. Accessed

4 Oct. 2023.

 

Golden Lion Tamarin. Smithsonian’s National Zoo. (2020, August 18).

https://nationalzoo.si.edu/animals/golden-lion-tamarin#:~:text=They%20have%20narr

ow%20hands%20and,(32%20to%2040%20centimeters). Accessed 4 Oct. 2023.

 

Golden Lion Tamarin. Zoo Atlanta. (2020, April 17).

https://zooatlanta.org/animal/golden-lion-tamarin/. Accessed 4 Oct. 2023.